i was going to mention this a few days ago. putting the cart waaaay in front of the horse..but, do we want Monroe? Is he improving or has he reached a plateau? Even the piston sites talk about players making up for his defensive shortcomings (where have we heard that before?). Is he the answer for PF?

Like I posted a few days ago you gotta wait at least till the 10th and then a week after. MU seems to be passing on the f/a class so he is not looking to bolster/improve...so what does that say? You still got to wait to know what his real plan is. To me he hasnt revealed it yet.

You know how much i love Rudy Gay right? but with Parsons the Raptors are going to get one of the most underrated SF in the game. A guy that can shoot the ball, can handle the ball and he's a pretty good defender as well.

With Asik, they're going to get a quality backup big. Not sure if Asik wants to be a backup though. Because i think he's good enough to be a starting caliber C in this league.

Robinson on the other hand i think is still a project. I still think he's a player with a big upside.

You know how much i love Rudy Gay right? but with Parsons the Raptors are going to get one of the most underrated SF in the game. A guy that can shoot the ball, can handle the ball and he's a pretty good defender as well.

With Asik, they're going to get a quality backup big. Not sure if Asik wants to be a backup though. Because i think he's good enough to be a starting caliber C in this league.

Robinson on the other hand i think is still a project. I still think he's a player with a big upside.

Don't like it. You get C that doesn't want to back Howard but, you want him to back up an unproven 21 year old?

-Parsons would definitely have to be included in any deal (without knowing what a multi-team deal could present), but is not a centrepiece of any deal on his own.

-And yeah, it makes 0 sense to trade for Asik so he can back up JV.

I think, by default, Lin would be included in any deal instead of Asik. I also think the "centrepiece" angle is going to be young players/picks...which could include Parsons, but he's clearly not enough.

So.....if Parsons is included so he can basically replace Gay....the other pieces that will be the core of this deal will be from guys like Jones, Motiejunas, Beverley, and any picks or draft rights they throw our way as well. If Lin is going out, Beverley is clearly off the table. I also think given his potentially great fit with Howard, Motiejunas goes nowhere unless they're trading for a stretch big.

My preference would be for Jones-Parsons, and draft picks/draft rights
A couple of under-the-radar names Houston has the draft rights to...
-Kostas Papanikolaou: think the Greek Garbo, but young and with a better shot.d
-Marko Todovoric: Could be a solid rotation big, and a more fitting back up than Asik, albeit he's going to stay stashed in Spain.

Also any deal probably takes a 3rd team, because Lin/Asik, Jones and Parsons doesn't come close to Rudy's pay. So that makes things fuzzier.

If the bigs on the pistons don't mesh. Could probably score one of them in a Gay deal. I could see maybe a three team trade with Smith going to the rockets, Asik going to the pistons, Gay going to the pistons and a pick and Munroe or Drummond coming to Toronto. That's the basic outline, there'd be some details and shit. Though, that's assuming a lot, obviously.

If Your Uncle Jack Helped You Off An Elephant, Would You Help Your Uncle Jack Off An Elephant?

Sometimes, I like to buy a book on CD and listen to it, while reading music.

If the bigs on the pistons don't mesh. Could probably score one of them in a Gay deal. I could see maybe a three team trade with Smith going to the rockets, Asik going to the pistons, Gay going to the pistons and a pick and Munroe or Drummond coming to Toronto. That's the basic outline, there'd be some details and shit. Though, that's assuming a lot, obviously.

Detroit trading Drummond would be like us trading Val: it's not going to happen except in a scenario where the team gets superstar talent in return. Drummond and Val are both potential franchise centers. And they're not going to trade Smith either unless he gets pissy and demands a trade, which he won't do in his first year because that would be insane.

Monroe, Knight and KCP are their serious trade chips, and Detroit isn't going to give up any of them cheaply. I can certainly see them engineering a trade with Houston (Lin and Asik for Monroe and Knight) or even us (Rudy for Monroe and crap), but they're not going to give away the farm.